


And the Rain to Fall

by senator_mon_mothma



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 09:44:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13187466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senator_mon_mothma/pseuds/senator_mon_mothma
Summary: Breha and Leia enjoy a thunderstorm on Alderaan





	And the Rain to Fall

It's nearly midnight when Breha is finally able to leave her office. She slips into the back stairs – originally designed to allow servants to get around the palace discretely, but now used just as often by the royal family and their staff for privacy and efficiency. From the narrow, windowless stone stairwell, Breha can just barely hear the faint rumble of thunder. She climbs distractedly, fingertips tracing the rough stone. Everything is more complicated these days; Imperial regulations make negotiations with other planetary leaders ten times harder, the Alderaanian economy is crippled, and Breha often finds her hands tied even when it comes to making decisions about her own planet. And that's without worrying that any day, the Empire will uncover Bail's extracurricular activities and arrest him, arrest her, seize control of Alderaan. And, the unthinkable, that the Empire might learn their other secret. Breha can (and does) lie awake making contingency plans for Bail's arrest, but she can't even fathom the consequences they will face if Leia's parentage is discovered. It's a shadow that hangs over her every minute of every day.

She reaches her private quarters almost on autopilot, and as she leaves the confines of the stairwell, the the muffled thunder becomes a crack punctuating the rain beating on the windows. Breha sees the rain streaming down the windows, and pouring off the roof of the patio outside, and smiles. Alderaan is a beautiful planet, and no matter how many times she's seen it, Breha has never ceased to be amazed by the pink and orange sunsets, the cool sea breezes, the glow of the mountains when the leaves change. But it's the dramatic weather that she's always found irresistible: blizzards where she can't see five feet in front of her, gales of wind that bend trees over double, storms that seem to rip apart the very sky. In moments like this, the planet truly feels like a living being of its own.

There's a rustle behind her. Breha, still on edge from the day, almost jumps at the sound. Instead, decades of always having to be the most poised person in the room, and never being able to betray a hint of any emotion unintentionally, enable her to turn calmly toward the bed. And, (obviously, she should have known, what's wrong with her that she is being so paranoid,) it's not the lurking Imperial spy or assassin that she'd imagined. 

“Mama?” Leia sits up from where she is nestled in Breha's bed, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“What's going on, sweetie?” Breha asks, walking over to the bed. It's not uncommon for Leia to end up in her bed, especially when Bail's on Coruscant and it's just the two of them. Sometimes it's in reaction to Leia's frequent nightmares, but often it's just a nice way to get to spend some time together even on Breha's busiest days.

“It's loud,” Leia whimpers, and Breha almost smiles at the idea that her fearless daughter, who doesn't hesitate to walk up and introduce herself to some of the most intimidating beings in the galaxy, is afraid of thunder.

Breha leans over and scoops Leia into her arms. Leia is small even for a 5-year-old, but Breha won't be able to pick her up much longer. “Isn't it beautiful, though?” she asks, not really expecting a response. Together they stare, transfixed, at the rain beating down on the windows. Leia momentarily tightens her grip at a particularly loud clap of thunder, followed by a streak of lightning that illuminates the entire room. And Breha can't resist any longer.

“Do you want to come outside with me?”

“In the rain?” Leia asks. She looks uncertain.

“Yeah. Come on, it will be fun.” It's very obvious from Leia's face that she thinks this is a terrible idea, but she nods her head almost imperceptibly. Breha crosses to the patio door, disguised as another panel in the floor-to-ceiling transparisteel that makes up half the bedroom's wall, shifts Leia's weight on her hip to free up a hand, and pushes the door open.

Immediately the cool air washes over them. It's a wonderful change from the day's hot, sticky humidity. Breha had been able to feel the pressure building in the air, until it could be contained no longer and the sky had burst. 

Breha walks right up to the edge of the covered portion of their patio. Normally, it offers a beautiful view of Aldera, nestled into the valley below the palace. Tonight, through the rain, she can just barely make out the flickering lights of the city sprawled below her. Water pours off the roof in an almost unbroken sheet, and Breha reaches her hand into it. The water splits, smoothly cascading off of her wrist.

Leia watches for a moment, and then tentatively follows suit, sticking her smaller hand into the stream of water and then quickly pulling it back. Breha watches the delight spread across her daughter's face, and Leia sticks her hand back out. She squirms and Breha lowers her to the ground. Leia walks right up to the wall of water and sticks both arms in up to the elbows, looking back up at Breha giddily. 

“Let's go out there,” Breha says, indicating the garden that lies just outside the roof with her head, but realizes at Leia's confused look that she's almost inaudible over the crash of water onto the stones of the patio. So instead, she braces herself and steps through the curtain of water.

Spluttering and suddenly shivering, she emerges on the other side, and tries to wipe the water off her face with an equally wet sleeve. She is absolutely drenched, clothes clinging to her and hair plastered to her face, and getting wetter by the second. She grins. She turns to the watery image of Leia still standing safely under the roof. It takes Leia almost no time to follow – no one has ever accused her of being indecisive – and for a moment Breha thinks the force of the water might be enough to completely knock her daughter over. But Leia comes out laughing, all her previous hesitation forgotten.

As Leia begins splashing her way through the ankle deep puddles that seem to make up most of the garden by now, Breha spreads her arms and feels the rain wash over her. Her daughter is happy, and her planet is beautiful, and for a moment the Empire and the war and her fear for Bail seem trivial and so, so far away.


End file.
